Women Are Joining the California Dream Ride to Help California Become Better for Bicycling

For Immediate Release – September 2, 2015

Contact

Melissa Balmer – Media Director/California Bicycle Coalition

C. (562) 221-9672 Email: melissa@calbike.org

Re: Women Are Joining the California Dream Ride to Help California Become Better for Bicycling

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Sacramento CA – The California Dream Ride offers a unique bicycling vacation and engaging educational experience for five days this fall, beginning on October 30th. Hosted by the California Bicycle Coalition, and designed by seasoned Tour Director Debbie Brubaker of Folsom California, the ride is drawing over 50% female participation, including Maria Contreras Tebutt of Davis, Julie K. Williams of Sacramento, Simone Wojtasek of Oakland, and Sarah Bartlett of Marina Del Rey. An intimate ride of maximum 75 riders, the deadline to register in 9/30. Register today at cadreamride.org. Follow the social media conversation with #CADreamRide.

“I loved the idea that this ride would help make my commute safer for me personally and for everyone else who rides,” says Oakland resident and “Dream Rider” Simone Wojitaszek, 28. “I bike because I care about my body and the world. I want to make California a better place to bicycle, so that more people will join me on my commute to work.” In 2008, while a student at the University of Virginia, Wojitaszek co-founded UVA Bikes, which has now grown into the largest university bike share in the country. Like many California Dream Ride participants, she says that the challenges she faces daily as a bicycle commuter inspired her to get more involved with bicycle advocacy.

The ride follows 265 miles of the California coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego and offers scenic riding, excellent food and comfortable accommodations, as well as an opportunity to go behind the scenes in the world of bicycle advocacy. It’s also the only fundraising ride in California dedicated to improving bicycling here. Riders will learn how advocacy is transforming bicycling in the Golden State, creating more convenient and connected bikeway networks and safer streets for bicycling so that people across all ages and demographics can easily ride bicycles for transportation, exercise, and fun.

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of a big bike tour with a purpose. What a great opportunity to get to know the people who support making California a better place to ride!” says Maria Contreras Tebutt of Davis, and Executive Director of The Bike Campaign in Yolo County. “My hope is that someday everyone in California will have a safe, fun route to ride a bicycle wherever they need to go. Together, we’re making California a cleaner, healthier, friendlier, more prosperous place through bicycling.”

The CA Dream Riders will stop along the route to explore model bicycle infrastructure projects, and learn how bicycle coalitions are educating bicyclists and motorists, advocating for better bike lanes and paths, and working with local government to make their communities better for bicycling. Participants looking to become more involved in bicycle advocacy will make important connections and build skills. The tour will visit Santa Barbara’s Bici Centro, an innovative DIY community bike shop; Santa Monica’s Bike Center, which has helped the city triple bicycle ridership; Los Angeles’s growing bike lane network and pedal-powered ice cream shop; and Long Beach’s protected bike lanes—the first in Southern California.

“The California Dream Ride is the only fundraising ride in California where 100% of the proceeds benefit bicycling,” says Dave Snyder, Executive Director at the California Bicycle Coalition, or CalBike, who will lead the ride’s advocacy programming. “It’s all about our vision for connecting our communities with bikeways to everywhere, so that your 12-year-old, your elderly mother, or your friend who’s just getting comfortable on a bike, can all easily ride bicycles to get where they want and need to go.”

Bicycling nearly doubled in the Golden State from 2000 to 2012, but we still have a long way to go before our communities are comfortable and inviting for bicyclists of all ages and abilities. The California Dream Ride is helping change that by raising funds and awareness for the California Bicycle Coalition’s Bikeways to Everywhere Initiative, which advocates for safe, comfortable, connected bikeway networks that link every destination in a community through a network of quiet bicycle boulevards, bike paths, and protected bike lanes.

California Dream Ride participants raise or contribute $2400 to support the California Bicycle Coalition’s work. The fee includes lodging, full rest stops, most meals, nutrition and mechanic support, a CalBike jersey, advocacy education, and entertainment. Media that would like to attend a leg of the ride, interview any of the Dream Riders, or CalBike’s Executive Director Dave Snyder about the ride please contact Melissa Balmer at Melissa@calbike.org or 562.221.9672. Register today at cadreamride.org.

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About the California Bicycle Coalition

The California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike) enables more people to bicycle for the health, safety, and prosperity for all. We envision millions of people riding bikes every day in California, with networks of safe streets and paths conveniently connecting every destination.